FEBRUARY 25, 2015
BRISTOL, VIRGINIA
Hazardous materials workers spent Wednesday afternoon
cleaning up two separate diesel fuel spills in Bristol.
Emergency responders were first called to Big Valley
Seeding, a company in the 6000 block of Gate City Highway, outside the city
limits.
Jack Tolbert, with the Virginia Department of Emergency
Management, said a tanker trailer had been unhooked. It appears the landing gear broke, he said,
and punctured the front compartment of the trailer, spilling diesel fuel onto
the ground.
Washington County Fire and Rescue, Goodson-Kinderhook Fire
Department and the hazardous materials team from the Bristol Virginia Fire
Department responded. They blocked the leak, which Tolbert said spilled about
100 gallons of fuel, and cleaned up the diesel. The crew used booms and
absorbent pads.
A creek that flows under a nearby building was likely not
affected by the spill, Tolbert said. Although not all of the fuel spilled from
the tanker, Tolbert said they had to off-load it as a safety precaution. The
fuel was transferred to another tanker.
As crews responded to the Gate City Highway scene, another
spill was reported in the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 near Exit 1. A
tractor-trailer driver said he heard a noise, stopped his truck and observed
fuel spewing onto the ground.
The hazardous materials team responded and set up booms and
pads to clean up the mess. The crew said less than 100 gallons of fuel spilled.
In both incidents, Tolbert said snow and ice helped because
the diesel was less likely to seep into the ground.
SOURCE: WWW.TRICITIES.COM